Joseph Romilly (1791–1864) was an English academic administrator, known as a diarist.

Life

He was son of Thomas Peter Romilly of London, by his cousin Jane Anne, second daughter of

Isaac Romilly Isaac Romilly (c.1710–1759) was an English businessman of Huguenot background, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was the son of Etienne Romilly, a French migrant in London, and his wife Judith de Montsallier. His brother Peter was father of S ...

, who was uncle of

Sir Samuel Romilly Sir Samuel Romilly (1 March 1757 – 2 November 1818) was a British lawyer, Whig politician, abolitionist and legal reformer. Born in London of French Huguenot descent, he was largely self-educated and escaped poverty through a fortuitous inhe ...

. He entered

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, in 1809, became a scholar of the college, and graduated B.A. in 1813 as fourth wrangler. He was elected Fellow in 1815, and proceeded M.A. in 1816. He took holy orders, but he never held any preferment, except that he was rector of the family living of Porthkerry, Glamorgan, from 1830 to 1837,M. G. R. Morris, Romilly's Visits to Wales 1827-1854 (Gwasg Gomer, 1998), p. xviii. and chaplain to Thomas Musgrave,

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...

, who had been a friend at Trinity. He belonged to the liberal party in the university, led by

George Peacock George Peacock FRS (9 April 1791 – 8 November 1858) was an English mathematician and Anglican cleric. He founded what has been called the British algebra of logic. Early life Peacock was born on 9 April 1791 at Thornton Hall, Denton, nea ...

and

Adam Sedgwick Adam Sedgwick FRS (; 22 March 1785 – 27 January 1873) was a British geologist and Anglican priest, one of the founders of modern geology. He proposed the Cambrian and Devonian period of the geological timescale. Based on work which he did ...

, Romilly's intimate friend. In 1821, he joined the committee for promoting a subscription in the university to aid the Greeks in their

war of independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

. He was one of the party who successfully opposed the petition, which it was planned should be presented in 1829 against Catholic emancipation. He opposed

Christopher Wordsworth Christopher Wordsworth (30 October 180720 March 1885) was an English intellectual and a bishop of the Church of England. Life Wordsworth was born in London, the youngest son of Christopher Wordsworth (divine), Christopher Wordsworth, Master ...

, then master of Trinity, on the question of

Connop Thirlwall Connop Thirlwall (11 January 1797 – 27 July 1875) was an English bishop (in Wales) and historian. Early life Thirlwall was born at Stepney, London, to Thomas and Susannah Thirlwall. His father was an Anglican priest who claimed descent from ...

's dismissal in 1834. On 23 March 1832 Romilly was elected registrary of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

after a competition with

Temple Chevallier Temple Chevallier FRAS (19 October 1794 in Badingham, Suffolk – 4 November 1873 in Harrow Weald) was a British clergyman, astronomer, and mathematician. Between 1847 and 1849, he made important observations regarding sunspots. Chevallie ...

, and remained in this office until 1861, when he retired. His major work as registrary was the arrangement and cataloguing of all the university papers. He died suddenly at Yarmouth, of heart disease, on Sunday 7 August 1864, and was buried in a vault in Christ Church, Barnwell.

Diary

From 1832 till his death Romilly kept a diary, which was used by the authors of the ''Life of Adam Sedgwick''; it contains nearly as much about Sedgwick as about its author. An edited version has been published as ''Romilly's Cambridge Diary, 1832–42: Selected Passages from the Diary of the Rev. Joseph Romilly, Fellow of Trinity College and Registrary of the University of Cambridge'' (2009), edited by John Patrick Tuer Bury. He also edited ''Graduati Cantabrigienses'', 1760–1856, which was published at Cambridge in 1856.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Romilly, Joseph 1791 births 1864 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests 19th-century English diarists English male non-fiction writers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English chaplains British philhellenes in the Greek War of Independence Registraries of the University of Cambridge

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...